Mohali Test: Match evenly poised after Sehwag's fifty

Riding on a brutal, swift counter attack by Virender Sehwag, India raced to 110 for two at stumps, in reply to visitors' challenging first innings total of 428, on the second day of the first Test at the PCA Stadium here.

Riding on a brutal, swift counter attack by Virender Sehwag, India raced to 110 for two at stumps, in reply to visitors' challenging first innings total of 428, on the second day of the first Test at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.

At the end of day's play, Rahul Dravid was batting on 21 and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma was on zero.

Sehwag batted in a manner only he is capable of and was also dismissed in a manner which is pretty similar to some of his earlier dismissals.

He smashed the Aussie bowlers to all corners of the park scoring 59 in 54 balls with the help of 10 boundaries before Mitchell Johnson banged one short but ball arrived late on Sehwag as he had closed the face of the bat. It was Michael Clarke who took a dolly at extra cover.

Sehwag with this 23rd Test half-century, now, has 50 plus knocks in 11 consecutive Tests and also shares the world record for most of number of 50s with Gautam Gambhir and Vivian Richards. Courtesy Sehwag's blistering innings, India trail by 318 runs.

Sehwag stamped his authority as he hit Ben Hilfenhaus over third man, punched Doug Bollinger through covers, steered Mitchell Johnson to deep thirdman and heaved Nathan Hauritz over extra cover for boundaries that made the pitch, which till then seemed a difficult one, look easy to bat on.

He added 81 with Gautam Gambhir (25) in only 13.2 overs before the latter fell leg before to a Johnson delivery that kept low.

Earlier in the day, India were dealt a 'Paineful blow' as rookie wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine scored a gutsy 92 to defy the Indian bowlers from wrapping the Aussie innings quickly.

Paine, who was dropped on nought by the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni off Zaheer Khan on Friday, cashed in on the opportunity as he shared three important partnerships of 53, 82 and 54 runs with Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus respectively. That helped Australia bat for 151.4 overs and reach a score which looks imposing on a slow track.

Playing only his third Test, Paine showed a lot of composure on a difficult track as he hit 12 boundaries in his 196-ball knock. He was unlucky to miss what would have been a well deserved maiden Test ton, being caught by VVS Laxman in the slips off Zaheer.